1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to soap holding devices, and more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved soap holding device formed of a base member and a co-mating cover or lid member. The cover member includes one grid-like pattern and a design both of which will be imprinted onto the soap after every use when the cover member is telescopically pressed downwardly into the base member. The base member includes another grid-like pattern that will also be imprinted onto the soap after every use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since the advent of soap holders, users have noticed that when the underside of a bar of soap is not thoroughly dried in the holder the soap becomes sticky, adheres to the bottom of the holder and is repulsive to the touch. As a result, many designs of soap holders have been attempted to resolve this inconvenience. Numerous designs have incorporated a limited number of drainage holes located at the bottom of the holder. Other designs have included raised protuberances to offset the soap from complete contact with the flat surface on the bottom of the holder. However, these attempts still result in having a substantial portion of the underside of the soap being left in a sticky, gelatinous condition.
Moreover, often times users place the wet bar of soap into a holder without considering the true topside or underside of the soap. Because many manufacturers of bars of soap imprint the topside of soaps with identifying marks, tradenames or decorative designs, it is to the manufacturers' advantage to maintain the imprint on the soap for as long as possible so that the consumer will associate the soap with the manufacturers' brand. However, after just a couple of uses of the soap, the imprint dissolves into the bar leaving a smooth surface without an imprint. When the user places the imprint-side of the soap facing the bottom of the holder, the imprint dissolves even quicker because the imprint becomes sticky and gelatinous due to inadequate drying.
In view of these problems, attempts have been made heretofore in the prior art to develop new implementations in soap holders so as to facilitate the drying of the underside of the soap. As discussed above, some improvements have included drainage holes and protuberances located at the bottom of the soap holder. Although these improvements may have performed adequately so as to allow the underside of the soap to dry better, these improvements only enhanced the drying capabilities of the holder slightly and none of the improvements considered the primary functions, like the objects in the present invention, of imprinting and/or scoring the wet bar of soap after every use.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that soap holding devices have been developed and constructed heretofore in the prior art so as to increase the ability to dry the underside of the soap. In spite of these efforts in the prior art, it would be still desirable to provide an improved soap holding device which effectively dries more surface area of the underside of the soap and provides the ability to score and imprint designs onto the soap after every use.
A prior art search directed to the subject matter of this application in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed the following Letters Patent:
1,782,0764,501,3552,380,8924,548,5722,484,4604,917,5892,486,3475,269,9972,822,640Des. 341,9723,094,7586,439,8743,446,9006,554,2464,035,122D499,9194,344,529
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,355 to Hoffman issued on Oct. 22, 1985, there is disclosed a soap saving device for pressure bonding two or more pieces of wet soap. The device comprises two dissimilar nesting soap dishes. The top soap dish is formed with a relatively shallow bed compared with the relatively deep bed of the bottom soap dish. This configuration provides a space for pieces of soap to be sandwiched between the nested soap dishes. Once the soap dishes are engaged, a pressure bonding force is applied to the pieces of soap, which forms a unitary bar. Additionally, two thumb-sized notches are provided on the top soap dish to enable a manual finger-thumb gripping of the bottom soap dish.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,758 to Downie et al. issued on Jun. 25, 1963, an apparatus for pressing detergents is disclosed. A soft plastic die member has inverted lettering on the face for stamping detergent cakes to be pressed with brand identification or other descriptive material.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,640 to Fuller issued on Feb. 11, 1958, there is disclosed a soap dish including a tray and a reversible grid, which allows for excess drainage of moisture. A number of legs or projections depend from the underside of the grid. The legs bear upon the floor of the tray and support the grid a distance above said floor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,122 to Cavanaugh issued on Jul. 12, 1977, there is disclosed another soap saving device which includes a housing that has a platen slidably mounted therein. A plunger is also slidably mounted within the housing. The plunger cooperates with the platen to provide a confined space of variable volume. The platen has an upper concave surface while the plunger has a lower concave surface. The platen also includes a plurality of apertures, which allows for the drainage of excess moisture within the housing. The device also includes a cover, which rests on the plunger. In operation, remnants of soap are placed within the confined space, and the cover is manually pushed down to exert a force sufficient enough to compress the remnants of soap into one unitary bar.
The remaining patents, listed above but not specifically discussed, are deemed to be only of general interest and show the state of the art in soap holding devices and their associated components.
None of the prior art discussed above discloses a soap holding device like that of the present invention which provides numerous drainage holes, located at the bottom of the soap holding device, to dry more surface area of the soap and provides simultaneously the ability to score and imprint designs onto the soap after every use so as to produce the capability of better skin exfoliation and deep cleansing while lathering the soap during the next use.